# 50-year-old army veteran recalled, deployed to Iraq **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628 "2009-01-02T20:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/21 "2009-01-03T19:17:33Z")
[possibly amusing aside] My father lied about his age in order to enlist in the Navy, they made him a radio operator, and sent him to the Pacific (Iwo Jima). To his dying day, he would tell people he only regretted that he never got a chance to shoot a Japanese. One of our ten thousand points of disagreement. Anyway, he remarried, and his second wife put up with years of crap like “Well, you don’t like it, I could always rejoin the Navy, they are always on the lookout for a good radio man!” One day, she was at a local mall where a Navy recruiting office was located. She approached the man in charge there, and asked for his cooperation in a moment of sweeeeet revenge. So, they’re having supper, the phone rings, he answers… “Good evening, Mr (' **luc** ’s Dad). This is Lt. Commander Smith, Naval Recruiting. This is to inform you that we will be calling you up, as we have a desperate need for good radio men…” He was 65. I deeply regret that she did not have a video camera at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/22 "2009-01-04T00:13:55Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Things may have changed some since my time in service **Jim** , but: > > Basically, _any_ enlistment, even a 2-year enlistment, is actually an **8-year enlistment**. When you finish the active component of your enlistment contract, you are transferred upon discharge to the Inactive Ready Reserve. Normally, this means nothing; you would only be called up in times of National Mobilization. > > If you join the Reserves or National Guard and do the “weekend warrior” thing, that service time counts towards your 8-years. > > Once you’ve done your 8-years, _technically_, you’re “out.” Unless Bararian Hordes are storming the beaches of America, and it’s “Katy-Bar-The-Door,” you’re safe from being recalled. > > Unless…you have a skill the military is critically short of. In which case, they activate the “Your Ass Is Ours” clause that everyone pretty much glances over in their enlistment contract, which says that you have essentially sold your soul to Satan, and the military is making your their permanent finger-puppet. > > Officers work differently. Once an officer is commissioned, they are “in” unless: > > 1. They retire; > 2. They resign; > 3. They are cashiered (usually bad conduct/incompetence); > 4. They are “let go.” There’s a whole 'nother thread necessary to cover this one. > > In cases 1, 2, & 4, if the military feels that they really need you (or, more commonly, some clerk screws up the paperwork, or, even moe commonly, there’s a programming glitch in the $100,000,000,000,000,000 computer system that runs the military’s personnel records system), you can be recalled to Active Duty. > > In any case, when recalled to Active Duty, whether enlisted, NCO, Warrant Officer, or Officer, you will be paid at whatever rank/time-in-service you are recalled at, typically your rank upon previous discharge. So am I getting this right? This whole thing of reserves and the possibility of being recalled is entirely involuntary. Add the only people who can opt out are officers who may retire or resign. Crikies, that’s a bad deal. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/23 "2009-01-04T02:15:37Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > So am I getting this right? This whole thing of reserves and the possibility of being recalled is entirely involuntary. No. You voluntarily agreed to this when you signed that enlistment document. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/24 "2009-01-04T02:26:02Z")
My husband works with a doc who retired and then was recalled to lifetime active duty service by act of Congress. Literally. Although apparently he could tell 'em to go shove it at any point, why should he? It’s a sweet deal. It also makes him virtually immune to the entire hospital administration, which makes for great entertainment value as well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Otanx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Otanx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otanx)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/25 "2009-01-04T03:08:09Z")
Watching the video it shows his old unit patch which belongs to [31st ADA BDE.](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/31ada-bde.htm) That would make the old missle system the [Hawk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-23_Hawk) or the [Hercules](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike-Hercules_Missile) systems. I am not aware of 31st deploying, as one of their BN is already in Korea. I do know that 11th ADA BDE is deploying a unit in a couple months to the sandbox. I sent the link to some of my friends in the deploying unit to see if any of them know anything. While I was typing one friend got back to me. Haven’t seen him yet. Being a Warrant makes it hard for him. They are the technical specialists for their areas. With no experiance with Patriot that will put him way behind the power curve. -Otanx -edit to fix spelling ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/26 "2009-01-04T06:16:05Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > When I “retired” at 23 years, I was actually in the inactive reserves, which meant that technically, they could have called me back up (fat fookin’ chance). Seven years later, when I hit 30 years total, I was sent my retirement notice. According to Army HRC all military retirees are able to be recalled at any time. > [@](#): > > How long am I required to be a mobilization asset? > > By law, retired solders are mobilization assets for life. Current Army policy removes you from mobilization and recall to active duty at age 60. However, volunteers may be recalled up to age 70. Retirees with critical skills may be recalled at any age. You are on the payroll and they can grab you when they want. I have been working with a Major who retired in 1990. He has volunteered to say on for two years rather than the one year that was required because then his retirement pay gets reset to current levels. [https://www.hrc.army.mil/site/Reserve/soldierservices/mobilization/retireemobilization.htm](https://www.hrc.army.mil/site/Reserve/soldierservices/mobilization/retireemobilization.htm) > [@](#): > > Being a Warrant makes it hard for him. They are the technical specialists for their areas. With no experiance with Patriot that will put him way behind the power curve. Most of the IRR officers I have dealt with are put in slots that are not MOS specific. Mostly as staff officers. Not much need for ADA in the current conflict. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/27 "2009-01-04T07:10:42Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > So am I getting this right? This whole thing of reserves and the possibility of being recalled is entirely involuntary. Add the only people who can opt out are officers who may retire or resign. > > Crikies, that’s a bad deal. **t-bonham** answered your first question; and in answer to your second, as to who can “opt out,” no one can opt out. If the military really feels it needs to empty the maximum security wing at Leavenworth to fulfill a mission, they will. Officers, Warrant Officers, and senior NCOs who retire, or even Officers who resign their commission, are subject to recall if the military feels the need. **Jim,** I’ve been out of the “Real Army” since '91, and the Army Reserves since 94. I gave them my “eight.” But if the Army felt the need, they could _still_ call me back up. Due to my relatively low rank at separation, and my active MOS being 19K (Armor) and my Reserve MOS being 67U (Medium Helo Repair; the CH-47 Chinook), I’m probably not on anyone’s “short list,” or even their “medium,” or “long.” No, they’re looking at people with “special” skill sets. Why they feel the need to drag that ol’ boy in the OP back into harness is beyond me; I think it’s a “glitch” in the system and he’ll be separated again. But the Army bureaucracy is disturbingly reluctant to make any kind of decision. My nephew (by marriage) went into the Army, but he should’ve never been let in. He made it all the way to in-processing at Ft. Sill, OK, before anyone caught the mistake. Instead of packing him up and sending him home, they left him languishing in the in-processing station for three weeks. Meanwhile, as his “case” was making its way through the system, the fuckers that ran the in-processing station were holding onto him and about a dozen others and using them as their labor force. :rolleyes: Mysteriously, there were always new “issues” with all of their paperwork, delaying their separation and return home. It took a Congressman and the direct intervention of the Ft. Sill Post Commander to get the issue resolved in something resembling a timely manner (for the Army, that is; any private sector company that ran their HR the way the Army runs theirs would quickly be without a workforce, as everyone would quit) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/28 "2009-01-04T08:50:34Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > No. You voluntarily agreed to this when you signed that enlistment document. Yes, sorry, forgot about that. ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/29 "2009-01-04T18:31:43Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > [Link to story.](http://www.wsmv.com/news/18391549/detail.html) This guy who left the army in 1993 got his AARP card and is being sent to Iraq, and Now, I do know that the military can recall personnel, but how feasible is it to recall people in their 50s? I know you can bring back “critical need” people, but if this guy is essentially no longer qualified, aren’t they essentially going to invest a ton of resources for (and I hate to put it this way), someone who is a little past his “best before” date? > > And can someone clarify me on what his status actually is per the article? (I don’t know if he is still reserve or what.) Can a similar thing happen to veterans of the armed forces of other nations besides the USA? ---
**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/30 "2009-01-04T23:46:55Z")
Depending on what he does he could be used as back-fill here in the States while some young whipper-snapper deploys. We sometimes use Reservists and/or Guard for this… Edited to add that I had to resign my commission in order to no longer be “available for recall”. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/31 "2009-01-05T02:00:54Z")
Way back when we had an ex NAVY railroad engineer get called into the ARMY and they made it stick. He was in our barracks. that was one unhappy camper and his state congress critter could not get him turned loose. He had to put in 2 years before they let him back out. When I was done with my active duty and was signing all the paper work and they were trying to re-up me, I asked why it was being done on the xx day of the month and not the yyth? With an evil grin I was told that then they could always bring me back to serve out that one day I owed them and while I was doing that, they could extend me to their hearts content. Don’t care if that was real or not, I worried until I got my DD-214. Now I’m so old I don’t worry, I worry that the kids going today are not mean & tough enough. ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628/32 "2009-01-05T08:08:35Z")
I knew an Army Warrant Officer (CW4 or 5) who had been recalled _twice._ He was old and had gout and other physical ailments and was definitely a less-than-gruntled camper. His specialty was codes and communications, so maybe they really did need him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-year-old-army-veteran-recalled-deployed-to-iraq/479628.md?page=1)